The Kentucky State Parks Foundation today unveiled the first three of 16 posters that will make up a series of illustrations highlighting state parks throughout the Commonwealth.
The project, called “Kentucky Parks & Crafts,” is a fundraiser for the Kentucky State Parks Foundation, which protects, enhances, advocates for and promotes the natural, historical and cultural resources of Kentucky’s State Parks and Historic Sites.
As they are released over the next 5 weeks, each poster in the series will be available for purchase for $20 at kyforky.com or at the corresponding gift shop of the featured park. Kentucky-area gift shops, including Revelry Boutique in Louisville, will also have the posters available for purchase.
The series of 13” X 19” posters have been created with a similar color scheme, allowing them to be displayed as a unified collection or as stand-alone images. The first three posters released and their corresponding artists are:
Cumberland Falls State Park – Harold Apples
Lake Barkley State Park – Liz Morse
White Hall State Park – Bullhorn (creative team)
“We are so excited to launch this new initiative on behalf of our state’s beautiful parks,” says Molly Caldwell, President of the Kentucky State Parks Foundation. “Each poster image captures the essence, look and/or history of the park that it represents. The artists have done an amazing job at giving definition to each park in a completely unique way.”
The Kentucky Parks & Crafts project was born out of a desire to bring attention to a state treasure that is beloved by many Kentuckians and visitors, but is rapidly facing unfunded deferred maintenance issues.
The Kentucky State Parks system, comprised of 49 state parks (equal to 45,000 acres), is one of the largest state park systems in the country. It is also one of the only state park systems in the U.S. to remain free of charge for users.
For the 49 state parks, the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s budget allocated a total of $8M total to care for the parks from 2005-2015. In 2016, the Kentucky State Parks were allocated $16M as part of a “Refreshing the Finest” campaign.
These dollars allowed for dozens of one-time projects across the system to be completed, including refurbishing and re-opening the lodges at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park and Jenny Wiley State Resort Park following fire damage to both resort lodges. As of January, 2018, the Kentucky State Parks System is still vastly underfunded with a total deferred maintenance for all 49 parks standing at a total of $240M.
“We are at a critical point in our state’s history, where our beautiful state parks and historic sites are in danger of closing or becoming unsafe and unusable,” explains Rachel Dickey, Chairperson of the Board of the Kentucky State Parks Foundation. “The Foundation was formed 10 years ago to help address the needs of the parks, through advocacy and fundraising, so that our Commonwealth’s treasures can be preserved for many generations to come.”
The Kentucky Parks & Crafts project will unveil posters each week through May 15. All posters can be viewed at KyParksandCrafts.com. Poster unveilings will also be announced on the project’s social media pages and can be followed on Instagram @kyparksproject and Facebook @kentuckystateparksfoundation. Release dates of the posters and their corresponding artists are as follows:
April 24
Natural Bridge State Park – Jacob Rhoades
Carter Caves State Park – Fieldtrip (creative team)
Jenny Wiley State Park – Meena Khalili
May 1
My Old Kentucky Home State Park – Jon Shaw
Stephen Foster State Park – Matthew McDole
Nolin Lake State Park – Brad Vetter
Pine Mountain State Park – Michael Braley
May 8
Lake Cumberland State Park – Matt Barnes
Big Bone Lick State Park – Austin Dunbar
Foot Boonesborough State Park – Robby Davis
May 15
E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park – Bryan Patrick Todd
John James Audubon State Park – Billy Lilly
Dale Hollow State Park – Kendall Regan
Fieldtrip, a creative advertising agency based in Louisville, has partnered with the Kentucky State Parks Foundation to lead the development in the creative concept, curate the poster designs and manage the overall project. Castle Printing Company has partnered to provide the printing.
The Kentucky State Parks Foundation’s mission is to connect the 49 state parks and historic sites in Kentucky to people.
The Foundation has a primary education initiative called Inside Out Education. The program provides transportation and programming support to schools to increase the number of K-12 students who are able to experience an authentic learning environment at the Kentucky State Parks and Historic Sites. The Foundation also works with parks friends groups to assist in fundraising and facilitating maintenance projects that address critical issues of park use.
The Kentucky State Parks Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which receives no funding from the Commonwealth of Kentucky or the Kentucky Department of Parks. For more information, click here.
Kentucky State Parks Foundation
